I hate ceiling lighting.
I like a dark room with the lights hanging directly over the table.
When it comes to choosing a shaft, Is deflection the only factor?
- Thread starter fish2
- Start date
I like a dark room with the lights hanging directly over the table.
I am startled, but I suppose I shouldn’t be, there hasn’t been any mention about shaft weight.
It should come as little surprise because it’s generally overlooked by players but not cue makers.
I have preached this since joining the Forum a long time ago and every single cue maker I have
discussed having a cue built, or actually ordered, concurs. You do not want to mismatch weights.
It is as simple as that and the underlying reason is because there is a weight proportionality to the
two halves of a 2 piece cue. A talented cue maker relies on this when they construct your pool cue.
When the butt is too heavy or the shaft is too light, a cue performs differently than when the weight
proportionality is changed. Players are usually unaware, or uninterested, in this but cue builders aren’t.
There were some very salient observations previously expressed but the weight of a cue’s shaft, in
proportion to a cue’s butt, is a variable in how the cue performs but some folks think I’m whistling Dixie.
It should come as little surprise because it’s generally overlooked by players but not cue makers.
I have preached this since joining the Forum a long time ago and every single cue maker I have
discussed having a cue built, or actually ordered, concurs. You do not want to mismatch weights.
It is as simple as that and the underlying reason is because there is a weight proportionality to the
two halves of a 2 piece cue. A talented cue maker relies on this when they construct your pool cue.
When the butt is too heavy or the shaft is too light, a cue performs differently than when the weight
proportionality is changed. Players are usually unaware, or uninterested, in this but cue builders aren’t.
There were some very salient observations previously expressed but the weight of a cue’s shaft, in
proportion to a cue’s butt, is a variable in how the cue performs but some folks think I’m whistling Dixie.
Flakeandrun
Well-known member
Exactly. Amen to that.
I have said that forever.
Whatever cue, shaft, tip, or combination thereof that YOU feel CONFIDENT will PERFORM to what YOU are CAPABLE of DOING is the BEST instrument for YOU.
Quit chasing every new toy that comes out and forget what every pro is using.
They are getting paid to hype things.
Flakeandrun
Well-known member
100% agree - most pros don't use what they actually like, but what they're paid to sell YOU the consumer...
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Maple. straight grain, no leafy figure
Diameter to fit my bridge. (imprinted on 13mm)
Taper. (as much cylinder as possible - out to 14" plus)
Flex. Not good for stuff you need to lay into.
Flex is a limiter on that recipe which CF would fix.
Not happening due to fledgling industry and garage crafted hotrod look.
Diameter to fit my bridge. (imprinted on 13mm)
Taper. (as much cylinder as possible - out to 14" plus)
Flex. Not good for stuff you need to lay into.
Flex is a limiter on that recipe which CF would fix.
Not happening due to fledgling industry and garage crafted hotrod look.
if you are thinking to be a tournament star then make sure everything is perfectly tailored to you.
but if gambling or also gambling you had better think more about what will keep your opponent/customer from digging up a reason to quit.
most here are the former,/dreamers.
but if gambling or also gambling you had better think more about what will keep your opponent/customer from digging up a reason to quit.
most here are the former,/dreamers.
Since you brought it up,
ME just do pool to perfect it. Screw titles, wages of sin etc.
I wouldn't mind getting to where I can trounce the next closest thing but that's a little on the ambitious side.
you need a reward for getting better at things. personal satisfaction goes only so far and wears thin with difficulties.
the reward being money. as all the best players i have met and played and which included many of the greatest ever.
all bet something or played for something almost every time they played. other than short practice periods.
the reward being money. as all the best players i have met and played and which included many of the greatest ever.
all bet something or played for something almost every time they played. other than short practice periods.
Fully aware. I got a good look in the 70s. It's not the only thing and certainly not my cup of tea.
for me deflection is a big factor. I can play with any shaft but prefer low deflection as I'm more consist with such.
other factors are hard to measure so you either believe what others are saying before buying anything or buy whatever you think that you going to like and try it out and see if you like it, you can always sell it later or throw it in the spear shafts case in storage....
other factors are hard to measure so you either believe what others are saying before buying anything or buy whatever you think that you going to like and try it out and see if you like it, you can always sell it later or throw it in the spear shafts case in storage....
If shaft weight is so critical how can so many players be using a shaft that was not supplied with their cue (ie: switch from wood to carbon)??
I just don't get the whole balance thing. I have at least 6 regular playing cues and either I got extremely lucky and the balance point is the same on all of them or its something I just don't feel. Most players hold their cue towards the rear of the handle so wouldn't it make sense that a cue always feels forward weighted? Wouldn't you have to hold a cue near the balance point to feel any real difference in balance? I don't even know what any of my cues weigh, to me they all feel like a pool cue.
I think you are correlating different issues and making them one and the same. Carbon fiber shafts are not wood and a synthetic material usually reacts differently than wood when it’s used to build a cue shaft. Players switch because of the reduced deflection which is an issue unto itself. I suppose it comes down to trusting a cue maker unless the person using, buying or ordering a cue knows what they want and informs the cue maker what to build and not how to do it.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of pool players have scant knowledge about the cue they’ve chosen to play with and I suppose just presume their cue was built like all cues are made. The truth is all cues are not alike but for its single purpose which is to hit a cue ball to produce a specific outcome. It helps when your cue is dialed in for performance.
So the weight of a shaft affects more than just cue balance?
Presuming the shaft is wood, yes, the weight can affect the way the cue feels and satisfies a player’s expectations.
Presuming all things being equal and you have 2 identical cue with the same butt weight without relying on any weight
bolt, identical joint pin, shaft taper, ferrules and tips, shaft weight can and will affect the tactile feel of how the cue hits.
If both of the above mentioned cues have 15.5 oz. butts and one cue has a 3.45 oz shaft whilst the other cue has a 4.25 oz. shaft, the two cues will both hit pool balls but the feel of the hit will be different. There is a weight range that the best cue makers down through many decades and decades of cue making adhered to and history is undeniable.
If you get the opportunity to become pals with top named cue makers, or just a new customer, and get around to discussing cue making methodology and the nuances of a pool cue’s anatomy. It can become very enlightening.
I’ve preached and posted about this topic so often even I get bored talking about it so I’m sure other readers feel likewise. There are also some stubborn minded cue makers who told me I couldn’t get the KW shafts I wanted made.
Those naysayers are eating crow after I proved to them a few of their peers just made them look amateurish. I searched for mths., interviewed cue makers and through persistence, eventually located builders that made what they couldn’t.
Presuming all things being equal and you have 2 identical cue with the same butt weight without relying on any weight
bolt, identical joint pin, shaft taper, ferrules and tips, shaft weight can and will affect the tactile feel of how the cue hits.
If both of the above mentioned cues have 15.5 oz. butts and one cue has a 3.45 oz shaft whilst the other cue has a 4.25 oz. shaft, the two cues will both hit pool balls but the feel of the hit will be different. There is a weight range that the best cue makers down through many decades and decades of cue making adhered to and history is undeniable.
If you get the opportunity to become pals with top named cue makers, or just a new customer, and get around to discussing cue making methodology and the nuances of a pool cue’s anatomy. It can become very enlightening.
I’ve preached and posted about this topic so often even I get bored talking about it so I’m sure other readers feel likewise. There are also some stubborn minded cue makers who told me I couldn’t get the KW shafts I wanted made.
Those naysayers are eating crow after I proved to them a few of their peers just made them look amateurish. I searched for mths., interviewed cue makers and through persistence, eventually located builders that made what they couldn’t.
From what I have seen, most of the younger players hold the cue at the very end, have a very long bridge, and they prefer a small diameter shaft with a long, straight taper.
It is kind of hard to make a heavy wood shaft with those dimensions unless most of the weight is near the joint collar which would serve no purpose.